Sutter-Yuba County Biographies
SUTTER UNION HIGH SCHOOL
Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
Prominent among the institutions of learning in Sutter County is the
Sutter Union High School, which was organized in 1893, erected its building in
1913, and now has an approximate enrollment of 140 pupils. Too much praise
cannot be given to the board of trustees of this institution; namely E. S.
Wadsworth, F. W. Graves, Louis Tarke, G. C. Galbraith, and C. E. Reische,
several of whom have served on school boards for upwards of a quarter of a
century. It is largely through their untiring and intelligent efforts, that the
Sutter Union High School ranks among the very best in California.
Three courses of study are offered: A two- or three-year business
college course, which prepares for office work; a high school course, which fits
the student for work on the farm or in the trades; and an academic course, which
enables one to enter the university. Either of the four-year courses may be
varied, but students anticipating going to college are kept closely to the
prescribed studies. A branch high school is located at East Nicolaus, which
offers the regular academic course. Students living at a distance of five or
more miles from the school are refunded transportation money amounting to one
cent for every mile traveled in going to and from high school, or are entitled
to free transportation by busses specially provided for this purpose. During
the school season, community programs, including moving pictures, are given on
Thursday evenings in the Sutter Union High School and on Friday evenings in the
branch high school. The program also consists of community singing and lectures
on general topics of interest, such as history, literature, science, geography,
biography, art, music, etc. Two publications serve to keep up a live interest
in the affairs of the institution, namely: The Sutter Union, a bright
four-page, four-column weekly, and the annual Gold and White, now in its
nineteenth volume.
Another matter of unusual interest is the fact that the Sutter Union
High School excels in athletics, having won over Sacramento, Stockton,
Marysville, Oroville and every other high school in Northern California, in
track events. This fact speaks volumes for the moral and physical standing of
this community, and for its healthful climate, factors which combine to give
unusual strength and virility to its youth.
Mention must be made of the worthy principal of this institution of
learning, Gardiner Whittier Spring. Born at Burbank, on August 29, 1892, he is a
son of Louis and Bertha (Fisher) Spring. His father was a native of Illinois and
one of the frontiersmen of Nebraska, going there with his parents when he was a
child. He was also a minister of the Methodist Church; and when he came to
California, in the early eighties, he had charge of a Methodist Episcopal Church
in Los Angeles, Cal., in which city he still resides. Gardiner Whittier Spring
attended the schools of the Golden State, and in 1915 was graduated from the
University of California. While in the university, he majored in English
literature, with minors in chemistry and education; and in 1916, when he came to
Sutter City, he was appointed as a teacher in the Sutter Union High School, of
which he later became principal.
On December 27, 1916, Gardiner Whittier Spring was united in
marriage with Miss Gertrude Miller, a native of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Spring are
the parents of one daughter, Elizabeth. Mr. Spring is a strong advocate of the
Republican party. Fraternally he is a Mason.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 921-922